Helping African countries achieve their development objectives through CDSF

The NEPAD Secretariat since November 2006 has been involved in working on a capacity development initiative for Africa – the Capacity Development Strategic Framework (CDSF).

This is a holistic approach aimed at enabling African countries to optimise and harness the resourcefulness of Africa to achieve agreed development objectives.

The CDSF is premised on the need to set in a motion a “process of enabling individuals, groups or societies to define, articulate, engage and actualise their vision or developmental goals, building on their own resources in the context of the new African paradigm”.

It is primarily a tool to assist countries, institutions and individuals to analyse, understand, identify and recommend appropriate measures to address capacity related problems.

The overarching objective of the CDSF is to enhance public sector performance by harnessing existing capabilities at an individual and institutional level, ensuring an accountable and responsive public service as well as forging true partnerships through experience sharing and skills transfer.

The CDSF provides a set of principles, values, methodologies and guidelines for application at country level.

At the heart of the CDSF is the need to :

Transform the value system that governs the conduct of individuals and institutions in order to bring them in line with Africa’s vision and new development agenda, with schools, universities and tertiary institutions as key agents for that change ; Ensure effective coordination and harmonisation of the various capacity development interventions at regional and national levels ; Create a platform to enable African countries to share experiences and lessons learnt. The NEPAD capacity development initiative (CDI) has so far achieved significant milestones in promoting CDSF with a series of planning sessions and workshops in South Africa and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The most recent meeting – the 1st CDI planning meeting – was held in Centurion, South Africa, on 10-11 June 2008.

Countries, capacity development institutions, partners and RECs were represented to feed into the gradual finalisation of the Capacity Development Strategic Framework.

The adopted approach in the initial phase will focus on :

Countries that have completed the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process — Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda ; Countries that have acceded and launched the APRM process but have not yet completed it ; Countries that have not yet acceded to the APRM.  Although the focus of this pilot process is with APRM reviewed countries, a separate but related process will be undertaken for countries that have not yet acceded to the APRM and those that have acceded but have not been reviewed. Source : NEPAD, august 1, 2008

Calendar of events

 17 - 23 August, World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden.
 18-23 August, CAADP debriefing for the new AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Rhoda Tumusiime, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
 21-23 August, Meeting of the NEPAD Steering Committee, Midrand, South Africa.
 31 August - 6 September, Conference and training seminar : micro, small and medium enterprise development, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
 29 September-3 October, Africa Forum meeting under the theme “Making agri-business work for rural livelihoods : CAADP implementation at country level”, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
 20-24 October, Five-year CAADP review meeting, Maputo, Mozambique.
 27-29 October, RUROFORUM Ministers meeting, Lusaka, Zambia. Source : NEPAD, august 1, 2008

NEPAD-Spanish Fund to close first call for proposals

The NEPAD Secretariat thanks all the organisations that have acknowledged receipt of funding from the NEPAD-Spanish Fund for the Empowerment of Women.

Beneficiaries who have not yet done so are reminded to :

Acknowledge receipt of funding ; Revise the budget to reflect time delays by filling out the budget template that will be provided ; Ensure that the administrative costs do not exceed 8% of the total budget ; Forward to NEPAD the organisation’s bank statements for June and for upcoming months. Funding has been disbursed for some organisations but is not yet reflected in their bank accounts. These organisations are asked to remain patient. Because of the meticulous processes there is some delay between disbursement and the arrival of the funding in the bank accounts of beneficiaries.

The NEPAD Secretariat intends to close the process related to the first call for funding proposals and begin with the second call. Organisations that have not yet responded to correspondence sent to them are once again urged to do so immediately.

The Secretariat thanks all organisations and groups for their collaboration and interest in the NEPAD-Spanish Fund. Source : NEPAD, august 1, 2008

Steering Committee meeting on infrastructure programme

African Development Bank (AfDB) staff participated in a Steering Committee meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 16-17 July 2008, with representatives from the Regional Economic Communities, the Union of African Railways, the African Civil Aviation Commission, the African Telecommunications Union and the African Energy Commission.

During the meeting on the Medium to Long-Term Framework (MLTSF) — tentatively called the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) — experts from the AfDB, the AUC and NEPAD presented documents to the Steering Committee on the structure and objectives of the programme and explored the linkages between AICD and PIDA initiatives.

The meeting welcomed the harmonisation of the infrastructure initiatives at continental level and the opportunities that it presented.

Concerns were raised regarding the PIDA gestation period, the role of the PIDA vis-à-vis other REC initiatives that have been undertaken since the disruption of the MLTSF in 2007, and the capacity of the AUC, the NEPAD Secretariat, and the AfDB, to deliver the PIDA outputs.

The Steering Committee requested the experts to highlight objectives closely linked to the improvement of access to markets and to boosting trade in Africa, and to industry, agriculture and other sectors that can promote regional integration.

The PIDA must compile ongoing regional initiatives and add value at the implementation stages of the ongoing initiatives, the committee noted.

It also recommended that a common forum should be organised at the beginning of each phase of the studies to reach a common vision for the ICT, transboundary water, energy, and transport sectors.

The committee accepted the general approach and objectives of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and the fact that the project will be managed by the AfDB, AUC and NEPAD Secretariat.

It recommended that the RECs should nominate Steering Committee members and alternates to oversee the deliberations of PIDA ; the AfDB, AUC and NEPAD Secretariat should nominate project management team members ; and the AfDB should initiate procurement processes.

A PIDA-AICD working group made up of AfDB, AUC, NEPAD Secretariat and World Bank representatives was set up after the meeting.

The group will hold periodic video conferences to ensure that synergies between the initiatives are optimised. The first phase of the AICD study has been completed and it will provide data at the country level and some regional aspects to be covered by the PIDA.

PIDA objectives are prepared within the framework of the AU and NEPAD infrastructure mandates.

The objectives are to enable African decision-makers to : establish a strategic framework for the development of regional and continental infrastructure in the areas of energy, transport, ICT and trans-boundary water, based on a development vision, strategic objectives and sector policies ; establish an infrastructure investment programme (short, medium and long term) around priorities established by RECs ; and prepare an implementation strategy and process including, in particular, a priority action plan.

The AfDB was represented by the Director of Infrastructure Department, Gilbert Mbesherubusa ; Infrastructure Consortium for Africa Coordinator, Alex Rugamba ; NEPAD-IPPF Task Manager, Mike Salawou ; energy consultant, Ahmed Ounalli ; infrastructure expert Eskendir Alemseged ; the Bank’s resident representative for Ethiopia Lucy Fye and Paxina Chileshe, who recently joined the Bank under the Young Professional Programme (YPP). Source : NEPAD, august 1, 2008

Bid to strengthen the economic integration of West African states

Staff from the NEPAD Regional Integration and Trade Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and strategic stakeholders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) participated in a validation workshop in Abuja, Nigeria on 23-24 July, with the aim of strengthening the economic integration of the ECOWAS and suppressing non-tariff barriers.

The workshop, a follow-up to recommendations of the EU-Africa Business Forum Working Group on Trade made at the second EU-Africa Business Forum held in Accra, Ghana, in June 2007, reinforced the commitment of the private sector business representatives to build on new trade assets for West Africa and strengthen the ECOWAS economic community, a regional group of 16 countries founded in 1975.

Participants highlighted :

The weak level of private sector engagement in formulating and monitoring trade policy ; The slow, costly and inefficient trade dispute resolution mechanisms ; Major obstacles in the delivery of trade ; Inadequate public-private sector cooperation in trade development ; The need for improved donor coordination. The workshop supported the need for a pilot implementation of coordinated initiatives in a transit corridor, and called on ECOWAS to play a leading role in facilitating the East-West Super Continental Corridor that covers the entire West, Central and East African regions, from Dakar in Senegal through Lagos in Nigeria to Kenya.

Participants also recommended a trade facilitation programme that aims to enhance trade, create wealth, achieve economic integration, and improve the overall business environment in Africa.

Such a tailored intervention is consistent with that of the Abidjan-Lagos Transit Corridor, a road linking the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria.

Other key actions proposed were :

A joint public-private sector capacity-building action through training and support to decision-making ; A communication campaign to change behaviour through awareness and to improve collaboration between public and private sectors. The trade and investment strategy would include private sector involvement in policy-formulation, implementation and monitoring, as well as strengthening agencies, mobilising the business community and creating an ECOWAS agency.

The workshop was organised by the AfDB, Africa Business Roundtable/NEPAD Business Group, the European Union-BizClim, the donor community and ECOWAS. Source : NEPAD, august 1, 2008

NEPAD takes the lead in finalising African fisheries strategy and new aquaculture network

As part of the ongoing attempts to accelerate fisheries and aquaculture in Africa, NEPAD has been requested by member states and partners to chair the meeting that will finalise the strategy of sustainable development of African fisheries and aquaculture (FISA).

According to Dr. Sloans Chimatiro, senior advisor on fisheries at the NEPAD Secretariat : “The idea here is to help ensure that the final FISA document is fully aligned with the NEPAD action plan on fish and the NEPAD environmental action plan”.

Speaking after his return from two key meetings held in Ghana on 21-25 July 2008 on FISA and the set-up of the Aquaculture Network for Africa (ANAF), Dr. Chimatiro said that considerable progress was being made by African states and partners in identifying ways forward with resource mobilisation, best practices and networking.

The meetings were convened by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for the purposes of consulting and getting views from partners and member states on the FISA and to move forward on the set-up of the ANAF as part of the special programme for aquaculture development in Africa.

Participants agreed on a FISA document which contains four strategic goals :

Optimal socio-economic benefits from aquatic resources ; Responsible and sustainable aquatic production ; Efficient and effective governance systems and ; Efficient and effective knowledge and outreach systems. In addition, the ad hoc working group on ANAF – made up of the founding member states, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, NEPAD and the FAO — framed a way forward on the terms of reference for the network as well as on a resource mobilisation strategy.

ANAF is expected to assist Africa in accelerating collective development of aquaculture by promoting cooperative research, training and information exchange in the fish farming sub-sector.

The Ghana meetings were also attended by international donor agencies and representatives from the Spanish and German governments. Partners and donors pledged to support and finance both the FISA and the ANAF.

NEPAD, working within the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme framework, is expected to assist member states to engage their bilateral donors at the national level.

The Ghana meetings are the latest in a series of events that are follow-ups to the NEPAD Fish For All Summit (2005), the Food Security Summits (2006), the 27th session of the FAO Committee of Fisheries (2007) as well as the High Level Event on Aquaculture during the 32nd FAO Conference. Source : NEPAD, august 1, 2008

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